POUGHKEEPSIE – One of the primary suspects in the 2023 “Melee on Maple Street,” accused of attempted murder, was allowed to set his own bail in Dutchess County Court on Wednesday. Rakim Paulin, 43, of Beacon, was arrested in August 2023 in the City of Poughkeepsie after allegedly trying to use a hatchet to kill a man at a Poughkeepsie park. The event triggered a large-scale melee on Maple Street (westbound 44/55 arterial) on August 20, 2023.
Paulin was arrested that day and charged with attempted murder. Following his arraignment, he was remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail, where he remained until Wednesday.
The New York State Supreme Court Second Department Appellate Division ruled in Paulin’s favor on Tuesday, after the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office failed to commence proceedings against him within 90 days of charging him with crimes.
The defendant’s assigned counsel, Mara Timourian, filed an appeal of her client’s incarceration under the New York State Bail Reform Laws. The new law requires that prosecutors move forward with a case against a defendant within 90 days, with almost no exception. In the appeal, Timourian indicated that his client had been jailed since the incident and the district attorney’s office had not moved forward with prosecution. On Monday, the Appellate Court issued a decision, saying in part “Accordingly, Criminal Procedure Law (CPL 30.30(2)(a) requires that Rakim Paulin be released on bail which he is capable of meeting, or upon his own recognition, and upon such other conditions as may seem just and proper.”
The Mid-Hudson News article, with footage from the scene, can be found here.
Rakim “Rock” Paulin allegedly hunted a man in a Poughkeepsie park while armed with a machete. When the intended victim fled, Paulin, police say, drove into the man with his car at 45 mph on the arterial. A second man beat the victim with a bat while stomping on him.
Following the higher court’s decision, Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin had Paulin brought over from the jail on Wednesday to ask him how much bail he could afford. On the record, McLoughlin stressed that he was “required” to ask Paulin the status of his assets while disagreeing with the directive. When Paulin indicated that he had $1,350 in his trust account at the Dutchess County Jail and had no other significant assets, McLoughlin set bail at $1,350 under the Appellate Court’s decision. Paulin was returned to the jail to be processed for release on Wednesday.
Judge McLoughlin, noting the seriousness of the charges, placed additional conditions on Paulin’s release. The accused is required to report to the Dutchess County Probation Department five times per week until his trial and undergo drug testing at each visit to probation. The accused machete attacker is prohibited from leaving Dutchess County unless the judge and probation grant approval, and he must surrender his driver’s license.
Paulin is tentatively scheduled to stand trial for attempted murder, attempted assault, and assault beginning June 3, 2024.
